Advent Day #7

Tea #7 - "Apricot, Honey & Lavender Infusion"

This morning, I opened the 7th window on the tea advent calendar, and I peeked in to find... gasp... an infusion! Since I require a caffeinated kick start to my morning, I switched gears, made myself a lavender mocha latte in homage to the apricot honey and lavender infusion I had found, and opted to save this infusion for later in the day. 

At 3:00 PM after a cold mid-day of running errands around town, I was ready for something to warm me up. I put the kettle on and prepped my mug: tea bag and one teaspoon of local raw honey. I let the silky tea bag brew in the boiled water for a full 3 minutes. The instructions recommend one to three minutes of brew time. 

 

As I brought the mug to my nose, I immediately caught the apricot and honey. Perhaps the honey was that which I added myself. I did not get any hint of the lavender. Taking my first sip, I still only tasted honey and apricot. It was only as an afterthought that I got any lavender at all. And I really like lavender, so I was looking for any whiff of lavender I could find. The infusion mellowed as the brewed drink cooled. By the time I was halfway through my mug, and my infusion was pleasantly warm, there was a very pronounced citrus overtone. According to the ingredients list there is both lemon balm and peel. The lavender composition is listed as only 3% so more lemon than lavender. My final analysis: there isn't enough lavender in this cup to warrant it being listed on the title, and since apricot, honey and lemon are not all that appealing, and really not top of my list, I have to put a rating of three out of 10 on this one.